, Hārūn b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd allāh , the fifth ʿAbbāsid caliph, is, thanks to the “Arabian Nights”, an almost legendary figure, so that the “good Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd” of the “golden prime” of the ʿAbbāsids has obscured his true historical personality. His reign, which saw many incidents of critical importance, was a turning point in the history of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate; it marked the decline in administrative efficiency and initiated the political disintegration of the Islamic empire. He was born in al-Rayy in Muḥarram 149/February 766 (another account in Ṭabarī, iii, 599,…

[see hārūn al-ras̲h̲īd ].

(or Rāhīyūn, Rāhyūn, Rāmnūy), Persian author, translator, and a poet of great repute who wrote in Arabic in the early ʿAbbāsid period and died in 215/830. He was born in Dast-i Maysān or in Maysān [ q.v.] in southeastern ʿIrāḳ. His family, originally from Nīs̲h̲āpūr, had moved to the Maysān region and then to Baṣra, whence his nisba al-Baṣrī. The period of his youth and early education remains in obscurity. He attracted public attention first as the secretary of Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd’s vizier Yaḥyā b. K̲h̲ālid al-Barmakī (170-87/786-803). Under Yaḥyā, he wa…

, ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā b. Māhān , governor and military leader of the ʿAbbāsid period, who appears first as commander of the caliph’s guard and secretary to the army during the caliphate of al-Mahdī [ q.v.]. He remained commander of the guard under Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd, who, in 180/796, appointed ¶ him as governor of K̲h̲urāsān, in spite of opposition from Yaḥyā al-Barmakī. It is said that he then followed a policy of oppressing the people, which was probably the cause of the revolt of Rāfiʿ b. al-Layt̲h̲; this obliged the caliph to lead an expedition hi…

, the eldest son of Yaḥyā al-Barmakī, played an important part during the reign of Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd, in the first years of the domination of the Barāmika [ q.v.]. As tutor to the crown prince al-Amīn, on whose behalf he caused the customary oath of loyalty to be sworn by the notables, he was particularly distinguished by the benevolence he showed towards the inhabitants of the eastern provinces and by his policy of conciliation with regard to the ʿAlids, perhaps going so far as to support the establishment of an independe…

, Isḥāḳ , famous flute player in early ʿAbbāsid times, died after 188/804. He was a dark-coloured muwallad of humble origin, son of a “Nabataean” woman from Kūfa. Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī brought him to Bag̲h̲dād, gave him an education in “Arab music” ( al-g̲h̲ināʾ al-ʿarabī ) and introduced him to Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd. He accompanied ¶ the singers in the concerts at court, belonging first to the second class ( ṭabaḳa ) of court musicians, and later on was promoted by the caliph to the first class. Isḥāḳ al-Mawṣilī knew “nobody being more competent i…

al-Tag̲h̲libī al-S̲h̲aybānī al-S̲h̲ārī, K̲h̲ārid̲j̲ite rebel in al-D̲j̲azīra in 178-9/794-5, i.e. during the reign of Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd. The Arabic sources tell us much about al-Walīd and his outbreak, although some details are contradictory; the most explicit sources are K̲h̲alīfa b. ¶ K̲h̲ayyāṭ, the Ag̲h̲ānī , Ibn al-At̲h̲īr and Ibn K̲h̲allikān. Starting from Naṣībīn, al-Walīd swept through Armenia and Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ān into al-D̲j̲azīra, an old K̲h̲ārid̲j̲ite stronghold, defeating several caliphal armies. Hence in 179/795 Hārūn sent against …

, apparently the grandson of the last Umayyad governor of K̲h̲urāsān Naṣr b. Sayyār [ q.v.] and rebel against the ʿAbbāsid caliphate in the opening years of the 9th century A.D. In 190/806 Rāfiʿ led a rising in Samarḳand which turned into a general rebellion throughout Transoxania against the harsh rule and financial exploitation of the caliphal governor of K̲h̲urāsān. ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā b. Māhān [see ibn māhān ]. As well as receiving support from the local Iranian population, Rāfiʿ secured help ¶ from the Turks of the Inner Asian steppes, the Tog̲h̲uz-Og̲h̲uz [see g̲h̲uzz ] and Ḳarluḳ [ q.v.]. Hār…

(in modern Turkish Hârûniye) was in the Middle Ages a fortress town of the marches of the Ḏj̲azīra ( al-t̲h̲ug̲h̲ūr al-d̲j̲azariyya ) between Marʿas̲h̲ and ʿAyn Zarba, to the east of the middle ¶ D̲j̲ayḥān (Ceyhan). It owes its name to Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd who founded it in 183/799 when he was organizing the defence of the frontiers, and fortified it, according to Yāḳūt, with two ramparts and iron gates. Ibn Ḥawḳal stresses its prosperity and the valour shown by its inhabitants in their battles against the By…

Abū Muḥammad Marwān b. Muḥ. Arabic poet of the early ʿAbbāsid period, was born in Baṣra in the quarter of the ¶ Banū Saʿd as a mawlā of the Banū Umayya. No date is given for his birth. His laḳab would seem to allude to his big nose and big mouth. He must have migrated to Bag̲h̲dād some considerable time before the accession of Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd (170/786). Ibn al-Muʿtazz, Ṭabaḳat al-S̲h̲uʿarā al-Muḥdat̲h̲īn (A. Eghbal), 55, puts his death in or about 180/796. Like other poets of his time Abu ’l-S̲h̲amaḳmaḳ is credited with undertaking an occasi…

, Abū ʿAlī al-Tālaḳānī, of ¶ the tribe of Tamīmī, an early Ṣūfī, disciple of Sufyān al-T̲h̲awrī, was born in Samarḳand, grew up in Abiward, and in his youth was a highway robber. After his conversion, he betook himself to the study of Ḥadīt̲h̲ at Kūfa. He was summoned to give ascetic addresses to Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd, who called him “The chief of the Muslims”. He settled in Mecca and died there 187/803. Mentioned frequently as a transmitter of Traditions, he was also a noted ascetic and advocate of other-worldliness, known as one who lived with God. “The servant’s fear…

, abu ’l-ḥasan ʿalī b. ʿabd allāh b. sayf , court musician in early ʿAbbāsid times, died in or shortly after 235/850. He was of Soghdian origin, mawlā ( al-ʿitḳ ) of the Umayyads and mawlā ( al-k̲h̲idma ) of the ʿAbbāsids. Ibrāhīm and Isḥāḳ al-Mawṣilī taught him the “classical” ḥid̲j̲āzī music, but he prefered the “romantic” style of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī and introduced “Persian melodies” ( nag̲h̲am fārisiyya ) into Arab music. As a court musician, he started in the third class ( ṭabaḳa ) under Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd and continued to serve the caliphs up to al-Mut…

al-mad̲j̲nūn al-kūfī , the name of a lunatic of al-Kufā. We first meet him in the Bayān of al-Ḏj̲āḥiẓ (ed. Hārūn, ii, 230-1), who depicts him as a simpleton exposed to the rough jokes of passers-by, and definitely as a S̲h̲īʿī ( yatas̲h̲ayyaʿ ). It is possible that he met Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd at al-Kūfa in 188/804, as Ibn al-D̲j̲awzī reports ( al-Ad̲h̲kiyāʾ , ed. 1277, 180 ff.; see JRAS, 1907, 35), and perhaps he even addressed some remonstrances to him (al-S̲h̲aʿrānī, Ṭabaḳāt , 58); but it is certain that legend, as far back as the 4th/10th century and may…

, the honorific given by the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Amīn [ q.v.] to his son Mūsā in 194/809, when he designated him as heir presumptive in place of al-Maʾmūn [ q.v.], whereas their father Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd had specified that the inheritance of the caliphate should pass to al-Maʾmūn and had taken the precaution of sending a circular letter on this subject to all the provinces and of attaching to the kisāʾ of the Kaʿba a copy of this, for the tearing-down of which al-Faḍl b. al-Rabīʾ [ q.v.] sent a ḥād̲j̲ib . It was in effect this vizier of al-Amīn’s who led the calip…

, formerly called Ḥiṣn Manṣūr , or Ḥiṣn-i Manṣūr (modern spelling Hüsnümansur), according to Cuinet also called Körkün, a small town in S.E. Anatolia, capital of the ḳaḍā of the same name in the sand̲j̲ak , now wilāyet , of Malaṭiya (formerly it belonged to the wilāyet of Maʿmūrat ül-ʿAzīz), 37° 45′ N, 38° 15′ E. The numbers of the inhabitants given in the past vary: according to EI1, 10,000, mainly Armenians; according to Sāmī, 25,000, of which only 1255 Christians; according to ʿAli Ḏj̲ewād in one passage 1150, in another more than 25,000 of which more than a …

, early ʿAbbāsid prince and uncle of the first ʿAbbāsid caliphs al-Saffāḥ and al-Manṣūr [ q.vv.], d. at Baṣra in D̲j̲umādā II 142/October 759 aged 59 (al-Ṭabarī, iii, 141). He was appointed governor of Baṣra, including also eastern Arabia and western Persia, by al-Saffāḥ in 133/750-1 ( ibid., iii, 73), and remained in this important power base until forced out of the governorship in 139/756. As one of the ʿumūma or paternal uncles, whose position vis-à-vis their nephews the caliphs was ambiguous, Sulaymān sheltered for many years the failed rebel ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAlī [ q.v.], until ʿAbd All…

, Ḳaṣr , the name of a palace of the early ʿAbbāsids in Bag̲h̲dād, so-called because of its being compared in splendour with the d̲j̲annat al-k̲h̲uld “garden of eternity”, i.e. Paradise. It was built by the founder of the new capital Bag̲h̲dād, al-Manṣūr [ q.v.], in 158/775 on the west bank of the Tigris outside the walled Round City, possibly on the site of a former Christian monastery (al-Ṭabarī, iii, 273; Yāḳūt, Buldān , ed. Beirut, ii, 382). It was strategically placed between the two great military areas of the Ḥarbiyya and al-Ruṣāfa on the eastern side [see al-ruṣāfa. 2.] and adjacent …

al-Lāḥiḳī (i.e. son of Lāḥiḳ b. ʿUfayr), also known as al-Raḳās̲h̲ī, because his family (originally from Fasā) were clients of the Banū Raḳās̲h̲, Arabic poet, died about 200/815-6. He was a court poet of the Barmakids and wrote panegyrics in their praise and the praise of Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd. He also defended in some verses the ʿAbbāsids against the pretensions of the ʿAlids. In the usual manner of the epoch he engaged in vigorous exchanges of lampoons with his fellow poets (among them Abū Nuwās). His enemies accused him, without justification, it seems, of Manicheism (see G. Vajda, in RSO, 19…

b. Dāʾūd , vizier. Belonging to a philo-ʿAlid family, he participated, together with his brother ʿAlī, in the revolt of Ibrāhīm and Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh against the caliph al-Manṣūr in 145/762-3. Imprisoned for this, he was pardoned by the next caliph al-Mahdī in 159/775-6 and succeeded in gaining his favour, it is said, by revealing the plan of escape of another partisan of the ʿAlids. Having become a confidant and counsellor of the caliph, he was appointed vizier in 163/7…

, an early companion of Muḥammad’s, commonly known as al-Arḳam b. Abi ’l-Arḳam, and having the kunya Abū ʿAbd Allāh. His father’s name was ʿAbd Manāf, and he belonged to the influential clan of Mak̲h̲zūm at Mecca. His mother’s name is variously given, but she is usually said to be of the tribe of Ḵh̲uzāʿa. As al-Arḳam’s death is placed in 53/673 or 55/675 at the age of over eighty, he must have been born about 594; and he must have become a Muslim when very young, sin…